What did Tiger play back when he was just starting his professional career? I think it was something along these lines but im sure someone knows exactly what:

Driver: Cobra Something
3 Wood: Titleist 970?
Irons: Mizuno Something
Wedges: Vokeys Im assuming?
Putter: Newport 2 Which model I dont know

Anyone know exactly?

King Cobra Deep Face Driver
Titleist PT 15 3 wood
Mizuno MP-29 irons 2-PW
Cleveland SW
Watson LW
Scotty Newport Terryillium putter

Cobra Driver for sure - with steel shaft. It's in the case at the National along with the other past Master's champions clubs.


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Wasn't he still using a Ping Anser then?

C'mon guys. You are susposed to be golf junkies.

2-4 MP-29
5-PW MP-14
Cleveland 56* and 60* Waston wedge was at his first amatuer and it said 50* probably bent. He used it from number 10 out of the waste bunker on saturday.


Peace out!

Still using the Mizuno Irons, with a Nike stamp. Just like he did at Titleist

Irons were supposed to be a mix of MP series irons(14 and 27 i think) and a Ping anser 2 in stainless steel

If you don't need an original reply...club manufacturers don't need an original design.

He for sure had a mp 14 8 iron, a buddy of mine was a caddie @ a couple country clubs when tiger was at Stanford. Nota & Tiger were playing a cc (menlo I think) on a monday & my friend who was playing solo caught up to them and finished his round with the two. My buddy was playing a half set & had a shot that was a perfect 8 iron, but didn't have one since he had the 1/2 bag. The guy had the nuts to ask tiger if he could borrow his 8 iron & Tiger actually let him hit it!
I thought when he turned pro, he had two 588rtg 56* wedges & one was bent to 60* and had a huge trailing edge grind. I know he was using the terillium scottys for fast greens & a pro platinum for slow greens.

Tiger in no way is still using Mizuno irons with a nike stamping. They wouldnt pay Tom Stites the money that he is paid to build Tiger a set of mizuno irons with a nike stamping. Come on now

I wasn't even going to reply to the response about nike restamps, but If jmcclure26 does some digging, he will learn about the effort that was made by nike to get him irons that were better than his old equipment. I forget who made his t stamps (miura maybe) but the response "Still using the Mizuno Irons, with a Nike stamp. Just like he did at Titleist" is like saying he is still playing a cobra driver & a titleist ball.

Stites was the head developer at Mizuno for years. Interesting, isnt it?

Our college team played alot with Stanford and I played in the 1996 US Amateur at Pumkin Ridge. I can clear up a couple of things regarding what was in Tiger's bag the week he turned pro.

Putter was a platinum Scotty Cameron Newport with a sight line (not a Newport 2), the first of its kind that I had ever seen (why I remember it so vividly).

King Cobra driver.

Long irons Mizuno MP-14
Short irons Mizuno MP-29, not sure where the transition was made.

I believe the wedges were Clevelands.

He also used a SPECIAL Titleist Professional 90. It must have been SPECIAL because it went so much farther than mine!

Hope this helps.

Open Chamionship '95 (St Andrews)

Taylor made Burner 9.5 Steel shaft
Taylor Made Tour Spoon 14 Bubble shaft
Mizuno MP29 2 & 3 irons
Mizuno MP 14 4-PW
Cleveland 588 Chrome 56 & 60
Ping Anser 2 steel.

I remember Woods, in an interview, stating that the "last time I carried a 1 iron was when I was 16" but i remember him hitting both a Cobra norman Grind and a Mizuno Grad forged in practice.
Masters '97

As above, but Cora 9 Deepface Driver X100 DG
Titleist Pro Trajectory 15 X100
588 wedges were RTG
TeI3 Scotty Cameron Newport.

He went to Titleist 981 (albeit Custom forgings) at the end of '97 (when he beat Lehman at LaCosta) and went to the 975D and Vokeys in early and late 98 respectively.

First time he used Nike irons was in the WGC American Express event in 2002. As a kid (eg The LA Open in '92) he was hitting steel eye 2s and his old Anser 2 putter. He used taylor Made Flex-Twist Burners around that time, and also a Big Bertha steel-shafted driver.

Correction to the 975D..

I think it first went into the bag in the '97 Mercedes at Kapalua.. Late '97.

I also went to the Open that year too. His bag was:

Cobra 9 degree deep face X100;
Titleist Pro Trajectory 15;
MP29 2/3 irons;
MP14 4-PW
Cleveland 588 RTGs. 56 and 60. The 56 had a severe trailing edge grind as I recall - the "C" logo lost part of itself to the grind. Also, interestingly, the 60 had no ferrule. I heard somewhere that he apparently reshafted it himself and didn't have a ferrule to hand, so, no ferrule.
Putter was a Cameron, which I think was his current gamer.

I remember the ferrule less club Here is a witb from his book, notice the mp 29 2 iron.

I don't think he had mp 29 short irons, mp 14 long irons & a mp 29 2 iron.

Got that wrong. Long day...

For 981, read 681... I should know. I've got a set upstairs.

First Titleist irons were at LaCosta, but the following year... Early '98. The 6 iron to 4 inches that beat Lehman was still a MP14.

I thought the 981 were large-headed irons, the ones that Karrie Webb used when she was dominant before Annika.

This post is like watching a dog chase its tail thinking its chasing another dog.

Tom was not at Mizuno. He was head of R&D at Hogan. Below is an excerpt form a chat with Tom a few years ago:


"Raleigh, NC: How much influence did the Mizuno MS-9 and MP-9 have on you when you designed the new Nike irons?

Tom Stites: Not really any. There's a ton of classic blades that have been developed over the many years of golf club design. I took my inspiration from some of the early Hogans, early Wilsons, early McGregors. I think that if you asked the same question to the Mizuno people, they'd say that their inspiration for their line came from some of these early models."

The entire article can be found here:
http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-04-03-stites.htm

Please let this "restamped" thing die once and for all. I have seen how much work goes into designing clubs in Fort Worth.

Interesting that Tiger played a mixed set of 29s and 14s. I never knew that.

His MP-29 2 Iron stayed with him for a long time. Even into his Nike Blade years. When It was found Tiger used the PT15. A Club that had not been made in about 5 years, they would sell for a nice nice price. So would Titleist Custom Grind Irons---Once Tiger started using them

I thought he went to a full nike set at the 2002 am-ex

Tiger won the masters with a Tei3 Cameron but he won his first tourney , the 96 Las Vegas, with a Cameron Scottydale Longneck.

Terry McCabe didnt copy any mizunos when he built tigers Titleist Irons either...He made a dozen or so sets for him, and Tiger chose the ones that he was most comfortable with.

I cleaned up the thread. Some of the posts were sad to see. Our community's culture and well being like many others is contingent upon our membership. No negative posing. No personal attacks. Please everyone, lets work together to keep it clean.

Back to topic...

For some specs on his clubs look at what I posted awhile ago http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63619

When did Tiger go from the PT 15* to the 970?

well my boy who is a hank haney man, and a mizuno guru, went to Vaquero with hank and tiger, looked into tigers bag and said " still got the mizunos huh?" tiger smiled real big.

I totally don't understand what you just said^ ?

He said that Tigers irons have Mizuno looks to them and maybe just stamped

Im just the translator tho

they are not mizunos i am really tired of people calling them stamps, tome and tiger worked for a while to get hime irons that were just right for him, him having stamps are another topic

I'm sorry, but I don't really see how blades can really be that different anymore. So many models have been made that it is damn near impossible to make a blade without it looking a lot like another blade.

681s are sweet clubs. I wonder how close Tiger's 681s and the retail 681s really are. Does anyone know how many sets of 681 and T models were made for the general public?

I've played the MP 14s and I still play the Nike blades. Trust me, they're quite different from each other. Mind you my Nike set is quite far from off-the-shelf and has been completely re-built.

Now thats a fun story

if you see pics of that on in the registry you can clearly see the neck has been cut off and rewelded, and i'll leave it at that.

hey use mp-14 as a junior im pretty sure and he still use them today nike just finishes them for him

Just to clarify...Tiger uses Miura irons with the Nike logo.... and it was Miura who made his irons with the Titleist 681 T logo when he was with Titleist too.

some people will say who cares... well... somepeople do care and want to know...

Not according to Tiger. Where's you're definate information from?

"Tiger Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer, who is paid about $20 million a year to endorse Nike equipment, said at a news conference last month that he never has used Miura clubs or met Miura himself. Beth Gast, a spokeswoman for Nike Inc.'s golf division, said in an e-mail that Miura never has made clubs for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company.

Miura, who won't comment directly about Woods, made 500 sets of limited-edition Tiger Woods Titleist models exclusively for the Japanese market in the late 1990s"

My information came from a confidential source.... and I think the bottom line is... because of legal issues and constraints on what can and can't be said due to contracts with OEMs...the truth will truly never be known except to a few individuals..... So I don't think anyone except Tiger and select few people will really know where his irons are made. Remember....just because it is in print or because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's a true statment. I have seen this exact statement from a number of players including Goosen who made the exact same comment about Miura irons before he knew that his irons were actually made by Miura.

What we do know for sure is...
- The frame is a Tom Stites design
- They were made at a top foundry (we don't know for sure where)
- They have the Nike Logo
- They work for Tiger....
-... and thats about it....it is useless to comment any more on this one....

And they're not Nike-stamped MP14s, or Titleists.

You're right, we'll probably never know. This gets debated regularly on here and it'll never be resolved.

Personally I find it unlikely that Tiger and Nike would lie about not working with Miura and I find it even less likely that Tiger doesn't know where his clubs come from (like Goosen).

I've always thought that Miura have been quite open about all of their Major wins and I don't see any reason why they'd hold back information on Tiger or anyone else for that matter.

Opinion is opinion but as always, there won't be a resolution until either Nike or Miura gives us a definate answer.

I agree mate.

Miura never made any secret of their associations and sucesses in the past - Floyd, Olazabal and Woosnam for instance.

I wouldn't put it past Nike to slap a confidentiality clause on any associations though; I don't get this 'it's Tiger, so it's Top Secret' attitude about everything to do with him.

I know the great man is notoriously private about his private life; and who can blame him with the way he is constantly under the microscope? I just don't understand this iron will to guard everything about him, which extends to his equipment.

Why on earth would you not tell someone what shaft is in your driver, for instance? I can see the merits of not releasing details of who forged irons or whatever, due to potential impact on a manufacturer's sales or reputation. But why does 'Everything Tiger' have to have the 'Area 51 Treatment?'

I just find it very strange.

not the best pics by any means but here are the '97 miura titleist japan release tiger irons; i will try and get some better pics

maybe a little off topic:

SEXY!!!

Miura forged 681 T: 500
Hoffman Forged 681 Standard Grind: 1500, 750 which came with 2 irons
Hoffman Forged 681 T: 2500
Hoffman Forged 681 Customs: ?

The Miura ones cost $3000 when released

Thank you VERY MUCH for those pictures. There used to be some great pictures of these irons on equip2golf.com (interestingly under the Mizuno History section and listed as having appeared in a Mizuno catalog) but the whole section is gone. I'd asked the administratior if they could be restored or e-mailed to me but never got a response.

Two other notes. I was under the impression that these 'T' blades were totally different from the various 681 and 'T-stamped' Titleists. The muscle contour is totally different.

Also, it seems to me that the curve of the muscle on these T's is very different from the almost straight contour of the muscle back on the Nike blades (both the stock retail models and from pictures posted here of Tiger's bag). Anyone else think this is true? Thanks.

Edit: More pictures would be very much appreciated (if possible). Also I should have added to the differences I perceive is that the thin flange at the top (above the muscle at address) is much narrower than on the Nike blades. Again, just my perception. That's not to say that his irons haven't evolved over time.

Edit2: Not to fan the flames further, but I double-checked the Miura page, and the 'tournament blades' have the straighter muscle contour and the rounded toe of the Nikes. Most of the Titleists have a curved muscle and a squarer, higher, peaked toe. Again, IMO.

I agree.

Totally different from the two sets of Nikes he's bagged.

And different again from the Mizunos he used back in the 90s.

Since you are a Nike blade man, can you tell me what the bounce and the sole width of the blades are? The Nike site doesn't list these specs and they don't answer my e-mails.

I'm curious, because in most photos, the soles look pretty wide for blades, and I haven't looked at a set in the store for awhile. I'm curious how they compare to my irons (Tommy Armour 845m's which seem much narrower in the sole and have a bounce of 3º throughout the 1-9 irons.

I don't know how they compare to your Tommy Armours, but, looking at other irons I've got downstairs, they seem pretty thin. Not as thin as my old MP14 Mizunos, but certainly similar to my old Titleists.

In terms of the 'average' blade I'd say they're... about average really.

Bounce-wise, I'd guess the long irons are low bounce, but the pitching wedge I use certainly appears to have more than 3 degrees of bounce on it.

I don't have a problem with them digging (as evidenced by the length of time they've been in my bag) which can be a problem with some others I've tried.

The main thing I like about them is the fact that they've got 'proper' lofts (i.e. weak and old-school) as standard.

Edit: PM sent mate!